Pumpkin Boy

Once upon a time, in a far-off village, lived a boy who was very poor. He had no one to look after him and no home to live in.

He helped people in their daily chores and they gave him food to eat and a place to sleep. Sometimes he slept in a house, sometimes on a farm and sometimes in the open, under a bench or a bush.

One day he helped a farmer to water his plants. But the farmer was a wicked person. He didn’t give the boy anything; not even a small piece of bread crumb. Instead, he picked a small pebble from under a tree and gave it to the boy, “Take this seed and plant it somewhere. One day you will become rich and famous.”

The boy was sad and disappointed. He had not eaten anything since morning. Tears fell from his beautiful, sad eyes.

“Why are you crying?” asked an old woman.

The boy looked at her. He had never seen her in the village.

He recounted his story.

“Let me see that pebble,” she said. The boy gave her the pebble.

“Are you hungry? Take this apple and eat it.” She gave him one apple. Then she closed her eyes, muttered some words and blew on the pebble. She smiled at the boy and said, “I think the farmer was right. Plant this pebble somewhere.”

“But where should I plant it? I am homeless,” the boy liked her smile.

 “You can stay in my hut and plant this pebble in the backyard.”

He followed her to her hut, which was in an isolated place outside the village. He planted the pebble in the damp soil behind the hut.

Next day he saw a small sapling where he had planted the pebble. He rushed in to tell the old woman. But she was not in the hut.

By afternoon the sapling had grown into a large creeper. By evening, one flower was blooming on the plant.

Next morning, the boy saw a large pumpkin on the plant. He wanted to tell everyone about this pumpkin. He plucked the fruit and took it to the wicked farmer.

The farmer thought the boy was making a fool of him. “Since I gave you that pebble for free; I will take this fruit as a gift from you.” And he snatched the pumpkin.

The boy felt hurt. He was unhappy that he had lost his pumpkin. But when he reached the old woman’s hut, he was astonished to see another large pumpkin on the plant.

This time he took the pumpkin to the carpenter who happily bought it and gave him a fair price.

Within a week he had sold more than fifty big and delicious pumpkins. Every time he plucked one fruit, another would grow on the plant within no time. And in the village, everyone was talking of delicious pumpkins that the boy was growing.

The wicked farmer got jealous of the boy. One day he insulted and abused him and called him a pumpkin boy.

But the boy did not feel insulted. In fact, he started calling himself the pumpkin boy.

And soon he was rich and famous. 

But he knew that he owed his fortune to the mysterious old woman who had turned the wicked farmer’s pebble into a magic pumpkin seed.

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A post for A to Z challenge

Today’s letter P

You may like to read my earlier post here Orange Peels